


It's a Long Way Down (and around)

by profligate



Category: Divergent (Movies), Divergent Series - Veronica Roth
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Insomnia, Paranoia, Sleep Deprivation, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 06:14:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5364524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/profligate/pseuds/profligate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eric learns a little humility, and gets shot a few times along the way. </p>
<p>or: Eric is convinced the control room is ground zero for every antisocial reject in Dauntless.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's a Long Way Down (and around)

**Author's Note:**

> i honestly don't know. i fucked with the timeline a bit so i had some room to dick around before the events of Divergent; Eric and Four are around 24 in the movies, so let's put em at 21. Also I think it's stupid as hell that the control room is up high in the glass building, susceptible to all kinds of weather and attacks n shit. thus, it is in the basement.

"Pretty please?"

Max raised an eyebrow from behind his desk.

"Denied, Blake. We went over this."

I hiss through my teeth and run a hand through my hair, noting absently that it was overdue for a trim. It probably would have been a good idea to stop pushing after the second time he denied my petition, but I was feeling stubborn. I grit my teeth and cross my arms, struggling to keep my composure. Max looked amused at my instant change in demeanor, watching me carefully as I slump into the chair before his desk. Taking up the helm in the most complex division in Dauntless hadn't been my brightest idea, but after the last Commander had drunkenly tumbled into the Chasm, there hadn't really been any other options for operations commander of the control room. Not bright ones, anyway. 

"It's absurd, Max. We've passed the every semi annual review with flying colors, I don't see why we can't move them to the end of the year. My people have a job to do, and-"

"And they can do it with one of us hovering over their shoulder for a few weeks." he sounded exasperated. 

I threw up my hands. "It won't be them the evaluator hovers over, as you so aptly put it, it'll be me. And I can't do my job with someone questioning my every move, it's entirely unnecessary."

"The fact that they'd be questioning you at all is proof enough that this very much a necessity." a deep voice remarked from behind me. I whirled out of the chair to face the door, irritated I hadn't heard the newcomer enter the room. The slight panic that seized my gut had nothing to do with the lack of sleep, I reasoned to myself. Right.

A tall, muscular man stared down at me from the doorway. Cold eyes assessed me, twin piercings glinting in the light above his right eyebrow. Blond hair was slicked back atop his head, the sides shaved neatly. In any other setting, he would be attractive but now...my lip curled in dislike and I stepped forward, only to be stopped in place by Max's voice.

"Dismissed. Eric, come in."

I didn't wait to hear his response, pushing past the man and out into the hallway and pulling my tablet out of my coat. 

_This is going to suck._

* * *

The door slammed shut with a click behind me and I heaved a heavy sigh.

After the meeting with Max, I had stopped by the mess hall for breakfast, only to immediately turn around and grab coffee instead. The smell of cooked food turned my stomach after a night of staring at the monitors' harsh glow and if I was going to make it through day one of observation unscathed, I'd need all the energy I could get. 

The rest of my faction mates in the control room had groaned when I announced the eval, returning to work after a few moments of shared looks of frustration. And now, time had come, it seemed.

I don't bother to turn around, intent on the terminal and monitor before me and listening to the collection of voices behind me. Three Erudite technicians had visited for routine checkups on the system security and I was loathe to deal with them, leaving Four to herd them like group of cats. He had come to the control room a year after me, the top rated in his class. Why he hadn't pursued Leadership was beyond me, but he didn't offer and I didn't ask. He was willing to deal with the nervous blue techs and that was enough for me.

Shaking myself from my thoughts, I could only imagine what whoever Max sent was seeing. 

The room cold and the metallic tang of recycled air filling the space. Circular in design, the center of the room lowered three steps from the entrance. The entire back wall was covered in monitors, identical in size and all streaming live feeds of various places around the city. The Wall was something of an urban legend in Dauntless, only select few having access to it. Rumors spread far and wide that those that worked in the control room knew everything about everyone, that your every move was watched by someone, somewhere. I never bother to correct them, knowing it to be true. Inner faction cameras are even more secure however, locked behind a door in a room that lie behind the Wall. My first few weeks in the control room had been hellish; looking your faction members in the eye after seeing some of the things they got up to when no one was watching...it was a lesson in self control, that was for sure. 

One larger monitor stood out from the rest, placed carefully in the middle, with lines of code running across the screen. A small microphone sat in front of it. Various terminals stretched in two rows, split with a walkway down the middle, before the Wall. Each desk held a variety of controls, connected to every bit surveillance tech in Chicago.

The din of the room was loud enough that no one looked up at the loud click of the door. 

"Sir." a voice sounded from the entrance. Andre, one of my newest. He sounded nervous, but I didn't bother turning.

I couldn't hear the newcomers response.

"Andre, sir. If you're ready, I'll take you to our ops commander."

Andre led him down the steps and through the rows of terminals, stopping behind Four. The blue clad figures startled at Eric's arrival from the corner of my eye I could see them look over at me and then Four nervously. I turned to see Four stiffen in surprise, his expression twisting into a scowl. Looking over, I felt my stomach drop and a had to stifle a hiss. The man from this morning stood before me, looking smug.

"Blake, this is Eric. He's the Leader assigned to-" Andre started.

"Leave. Ensure our guests get back to their transportation safely." Four ordered. Andre seemed to have had enough of the tension of the room as he jerked his head at the Erudite techs and hustled them up the steps and out of the control room in seconds.

Four's lips twitched and he crossed his arms, inclining his head to look at his feet with a long suffering sigh.

"Eric, this is Blake. She's our Operations commander of the control room."

Before he could even open his mouth, I interrupted him, schooling my expression into a bored stare.

"You're late."

* * *

Distaste curled in my gut immediately.

Of course, it had to be the man from this morning. From his cold eyes down to his steel toed boots, I already despised this man. Of course, I'd seen him elsewhere around the compound, in the Pit or around the mess hall. All Leaders were expected to show face at least one meal a day, and from the beginning it was obvious he was going to fit right in. Even glimpsing him on the Wall, he seemed to stalk the hallways like a predator, like he was born Dauntless. Cold and determined, just like Max and Lauren. 

And he was late.

That fact alone set me on edge as I stared up at him, holding onto my composure by a thin thread. He didn't react to my near insubordination and gave me a once over, eyes lingering on my left eye. Willing myself to keep my mouth shut, I ground my teeth and said nothing. The scar had healed decently, stretching at an angle from above the eyebrow to cheekbone, the tissue on my eyelid only mercifully spared. It had been hidden by my mop of hair this morning, I reasoned, he must not have seen it. Or he was fucking with me, putting me on edge before we even started. That sounded more likely. Seemingly done, Eric shifted his weight and crossed his arms. 

"Are you ready to begin, or did you want to continue wasting my time." Eric asked, inclining his head condescendingly. "Three minutes or three hours, what does it matter if you can't do your job?"

Four sighed to my right and dragged a hand down his face, shooting me a glance.

I bit back the urge to snap at him and turned slightly, widening his view of the Wall.

"Fine. The control room is on a twenty four hour rotation. There's always someone here, regardless of what goes on outside this room." I clicked the small remote in my hand twice and the few hundred monitors instantly flickered to form a panoramic view of the entire city from above. Miles of glass and concrete stretched beneath the cameras eyes and Eric cocked his head. Faint interest sparked in his expression but he managed to look entirely above it all. I grit my teeth. One click and they returned to their previous streams. 

"Whoever is lucky enough to be doing our eval usually shadows the commander on their shift." Four stated, sounding a bit gleeful at the idea. I shot him a sharp look.

Eric ignored Four and looked down, grey eyes meeting mine, a smirk fighting its way onto his face as he seemed to examine the coffee behind me and the rumpled state of my clothes. He straightened.

"The last five evaluations here have been perfect scores." he said evenly. "Don't expect it to be so easy this time."

Four would swear later that he heard my jaw click as my teeth ground together.

"Of course not,  _sir._ We live to serve."

A cold smile spread across his face and he pulled out his tablet from inside his jacket, the screen lighting up cheerily.

"Let's begin."


End file.
